TBT girls earn win at Land O'Lakes race

LAND O'LAKES -- Ridgewood's team of Lizzy and Lizzie grabbed the top two girls spots. Senior Lizzy Leigh finished in 20 minutes, 3 seconds, four seconds ahead of junior teammate Lizzie Sheridan.

However, the Rams were unable to overcome defending meet champion Tampa Bay Tech. TBT placed five girls in the top 13 to outdistance Ridgewood 48-50. "I've been preaching the past two years that these girls need to work over the summer," Tampa Bay Tech coach Eli Thomas said. "The girls put in like 150 miles over the summer. All that hard work is paying off."

River Ridge, keyed by Coyle and seventh-place finisher Melissa Tuccio, grabbed third overall with 82 points. Springstead's Lindsay Boldt finished eighth, helping her team to a fourth-place finish with 136 points.

South Sumter finished fifth with 169 points.

On the boys side, Land O'Lakes senior Scott Habershaw jumped out to a lead in the first mile. But Ridgewood's Jim Vitale bore down and blew away Habershaw, winning in 16:08 -- 41 seconds ahead of Habershaw.

Vitale's strong showing wasn't enough to lift the defending state champions to the overall title, though. Central placed five boys in the top nine to pull away from the Rams 32-70, the first time Central has beaten Ridgewood for the first time since 1996.

Wesley Chapel's Scott Sorenson and Daniel Fagan finished 10th and 11th, respectively, helping the Wildcats to a third-place finish with 98 points. Land O'Lakes finished fourth with 109 points as Bryan Gibbs and Ryan Hutson joined Habershaw in the top 16.